Toyota & the aftermarket: How important is aftermarket support to you?

[Agent WD-40]

How important is aftermarket support in your vehicle purchase? Is it a deal breaker or maker? Toyota does what a lot of manufactures can't; they make high quality vehicles that are reliable. They do tend to be rather vanilla most of the time though. That is why having aftermarket support will really seal the deal. I can have the reliable car and have the cool one.

I think one thing Toyota can do to make their trucks a hit would to get the aftermarket interested. Look at Honda Civic, Acura Integra, Toyota's own Tacoma. I know not everybody bought that vehicle because it had an aftermarket following, but I'll bet a lot more people chose one because there was a large aftermarket following. Granted it is a balance. The aftermarket won't get interested if nobody buys the car in the first place (or at least on most cars). I really feel Toyota has great tuner cars from the factory, which is why aftermarket involvement would help so much. For the most part though, they are not very exciting until the aftermarket gets involved.

Toyota should do with the Tundra what they are doing with Scion. Spur the aftermarket to make parts by doing various things including giving the aftermarket tuners diagrams and other product info to help them make high quality parts easily.

I know TRD and L-Tuned are here to help out, but they can never match the variety that the aftermarket can offer. I also feel they would be better served if they were more like AMG, M, SVT, PVO, etc. that made vehicles that truly were from the factory.

I think the GS is another great example of a car that is well made but doesn't quite get the "sport" part right from the factory. It is supposed to be their sport sedan though. I always thought the GS was cool but, like a lot of Lexus stuff (IMO), not the most exciting. When I found out how much aftermarket support there was for the GS it suddenly became a much more exciting vehicle. Now I have the possibility to have a GS, which is a good vehicle but not necessarily exciting, and make it the exciting sport machine that it should have been from the factory.

Toyota has captured the fat part of the market (in America) that just wants good, reliable cars. They could truly own the market if they appealed to the rest of the market that wants exciting cars. They would also do better in Europe too. Then they would be #1 vehicle maker easily. Hopefully Toyota is on the right track though, they did put a 5 speed and V8 in the 4Runner. Pherhaps things are looking up?

Lets get talking, I know Toyota has there eye on this place.

[Verndog]

I have gotten a first hand lesson in the aftermarket industry the last several months. First off, as an aftermarket supplier, it is very difficult to give the owners what they want without alot of potential losses. Here is why, you cannot put Toyota, Tundra, Sequoia, TRD, or any Toyota related name or symbol on any product without approval. Approval takes, 2-3 months, and then there is no guarantee it will be approved then sales must be channeled thru Toyota, and you could get stuck with alot of inventory or initial investment costs with little to no payback.

Secondly, Toyota buyers are in general a bit frugal, I learned that the hard way. I am an educated consumer, and have stuck with Toyota since 1991, and that is why when I needed a larger truck I bought the Tundra. But after I developed my TB cover, and ran what I estimated to be 1-2 month supply, I find that I totally overestimated the sales, ended up developing additional top plates and colors, and then reducing prices thru new website, attempting to increase sales...even though I have many documented users that are literally blown away buy the superior CNC billet quality products.

So, if you want more aftermarket partisipation, Toyota needs to make it easier for companies to develope products without soo much risk to the suppliers IMO. Now...the flip side of that, they have protected the end comsumers, by keeping the selection down to items they believe are worthy of the Toyota quality name. Problem is, it's not a level playing field, these companies will make stuff and put, Camaro, F150, Ram horns, Chev emblem....whatever on it because a) there are 10x more potential customers, and b) nobody is going to attempt to stop them.

Right now I have an awesome design for a TRD billet hitch cover, that plugs in and act as a 4th brake light, that I know would be a hit....but guess what?? It likely will never get into production.

Long story short, if I don't get approval on my product, Toyota just lost another very experianced supplier with a superior product, because I will hang it up at this rate. I've lost alot of bank just putting a couple products out there to date...and I'm just not that darn generous.

Kevin

[jbtoy]

Originally Posted by Verndog

... Here is why, you cannot put Toyota, Tundra, Sequoia, TRD, or any Toyota related name or symbol on any product without approval. Approval takes, 2-3 months, and then there is no guarantee it will be approved then sales must be channeled thru Toyota, and you could get stuck with alot of inventory or initial investment costs with little to no payback......So, if you want more aftermarket partisipation, Toyota needs to make it easier for companies to develope products without soo much risk to the suppliers IMO. .....Long story short, if I don't get approval on my product, Toyota just lost another very experianced supplier with a superior product, because I will hang it up at this rate. I've lost alot of bank just putting a couple products out there to date...and I'm just not that darn generous.
Kevin

Excellent points. I question Toyota's whole marketing concept and end objectives in market share. IMO, they seem content with a niche market for the Tundra (100k units yr) and obtaining market share with their Toyota family lineup with "appeal to generic/vanilla offerings". Granted, Toyota offers good quality, good resale value, but, they do not seem to want to cross the conservative line. From my perspective, I rarely see the Tundra advertised by
itself, playing in the dirt...hauling material, or even a direct comparision to any of the Big 3. The Tundra meets my needs, but, there are many reasons that ~2 millon trucks bought yearly are NOT Toyotas. People want different configurations available (like more power and driveline options) and are willing to buy the Big 3 to get what they want. It will be interesting to see if the Nissan steals a piece of this pie with the Titan.
Also, I think you guys are right from the numbers side of potential customers for aftermarket support. Assuming you can offer a product, I think most aftermarket companies are more willing to develop, copy, or tool up for a product for the Big 3, because of the numbers. More trucks on the road, more potential customers. The pool is just much larger here.
Lastly, I hope you get approval Kevin...it would be a shame to not have the quality of PPD products (current and future) available for the demanding Tundra/Seq population that want quality aftermarket additions for their rides.

[Genthar]

Also, I think you guys are right from the numbers side of potential customers for aftermarket support. Assuming you can offer a product, I think most aftermarket companies are more willing to develop, copy, or tool up for a product for the Big 3, because of the numbers. More trucks on the road, more potential customers. The pool is just much larger here.

This is EXACTLY the reason there is not a lot of aftermarket support available for the Tundra. Trucks like the F150 and such have been around for so long, and are so popular that they will be the first to have aftermarket products designed for them, even on new models. While we certainly love our Tundras, the reality of the fact is that they are still babies in terms of product life, and there are not that many of them on the road, yet. As the Tundra popularity grows, and more and more people buy Tundra's, the aftermarket industry will take notice, and start to make more parts for them.

After all, the Tundra is only 4 years old. The F-150 has been around for 40+ years? The Tundra still a baby, yet it's managed to make the Big-3 have to respond to it. Not bad.

[molex]

Originally Posted by Agent WD-40

How important is aftermarket support in your vehicle purchase? Is it a deal breaker or maker?

I've never shopped for a car or truck based on what the after-market has to offer, but I certainly consider after-market availability of product to be important. I would really like to see a larger after-market for the Tundra. When I look for things like front recovery-hook kits, bull-bars, nerf bars, exhaust systems, light upgrades etc. etc. it's really frustrating to see the mountains of cool stuff our there for big 3 owners compared to the mole-hill of stuff available for Tundra owners. It makes me (and others, I suspect) feel like "Hey, my truck must really be unpopular. Everyone else has so much cool stuff available, there must just not be a market for the Tundra."

From that view-point, it seems like Toyota would really want there to be a larger aftermarket for Tundra accessories, if nothing else it boosts brand-awareness.

[H2O_MAN]

Originally Posted by Agent WD-40

How important is aftermarket support in your vehicle purchase? Is it a deal breaker or maker? .

The aftermarket does support the areas that are important to me, and this forum has made it very easy for me to find these items for my Tundra.
What more could I ask for?

[file014]

Most of my money is gone once I got the truck. Not much leftover for aftermarket. Ive been more satisfied with stuff that came stock on the truck than stuff that Ive added (cruise, bedliner, grillguard). Then again Go Rhino has crappy customer service and the people who answer the phones there are idiots who dont know their own products. I will probably never do any major mods to suspension or engine or anything, for fear of messing up a good thing. I like the way my truck drives and by 8500 miles I know its intricacies very well. I want to keep it this way as long as possible. IF I want to mod stuff I do it to my tercel. But even so, I hate to mess up the way it drives and rides. Theres nothing like buying a car brand new and driving it forever.

[tundrabrad]

It will be interesting to see what happens when the NASCAR Tundras starts kicking some Big 3 butt...

I don't see much Tundra advertising on TV. They do have one commercial I've seen a few times that is hauling stuff and driving in the dirt.

Tough to buy much advertising when you are spreading it over only 150,000 units per year vs 1 million units a year with Ford or GM.

Aftermarket stuff - I'm not looking for much. I think the challenge in sales is related to the size of the marketing budget - you have to get the word out and that costs $$$. Even TundraSolutions members/users represent less than 5% of Tundra owners. You may have the most dedicated Tundra owners here but not much of the total market.

I'm amazed how many Tundras are driving around good ol' all american Bakersfield. The word will get out and Tundra sales will continue to grow...

Brad